Riverhead BOE to vote on $4M bus bond proposition

A Riverhead School District school bus. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch, file)

The Riverhead school board is expected to vote on a new $3.98 million bond proposal for bus purchases at Tuesday night’s regular meeting, according to the agenda.

If approved, the proposition will be placed on the May 20 budget vote ballot.

School board members have not discussed the bond proposal in open session this school year. However Superintendent Nancy Carney said via email that she has “discussed this with the Board leadership during my periodic meetings with them and they agreed that it was something that should be brought to the full Board for discussion and possible vote.”

Ms. Carney said that if the bond is approved, about 35 large propane-powered buses will be able to be purchased, as well as about five handicapped vans.

She added that voters authorized a program in 2007 to purchase school buses each year, retiring old vehicles in the process. However funds for that program have been spent. The $3.98 million would be spent over a five-year span, Ms. Carney said.

“The state has frequently commended us for having an excellent inspection safety record. One of the ways we achieve this is by having newer vehicles on the road,” she wrote.

“If we were to stop replacing older buses, we would have to spend a great deal more money on repair costs in order to meet the safety standards imposed on us by the NYS Department of Transportation.”

The school board also plans to review a second ballot proposition Tuesday night to grant an easement to L.I. Head Start, according to the proposal.

Ms. Carney is also scheduled to give a presentation on both propositions, as well as revenue and tax levy projections for the 2014-15 school year.

In addition to voting on the two ballot proposition proposals, the school board is scheduled to hold a public hearing to discuss appropriating $456,000 from the district’s repair reserve fund for various capital improvement projects.